Method of forming a fuel briquette



Patented Get. 16, 1934 n Nrr METHOD OF FQRMING A FUEL BRIQUETTIE Charles Burner, Wood, Los Angeles, Calif assignor to Carbon Products 00., Inc., Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California N0 Drawing. Application March 30, 1932, Serial No. 602,108

2 Claims.

5 It is possible to ascertain in advance and to so form the briquette that a given result may be accomplished such as, for instance, a complete burning of the briquette without ash or smoke,-a burning of the briquette with smoke, or the burning of j the briquette with or without smoke with an ash residue. Likewise, the briquette may be formed to burn for a selected duration of time.

An object of the invention is the provision of a fuel briquette which may be stored out of doors without the necessity of covering the same, no deterioration of the briquette being apparent.

Another object is the provision of a fuel briquette which will withstand rough handling without breaking or cracking.

Another object is the provision of a briquette which is readily ignited and burns with an even heat.

Another object is the provision of a briquette which may be formed within a minimum of time, to-wit, within a few hours.

' Another object is the provision of a briquette which is useful for the heating of orchards and the briquette is adapted to be placed upon the ground without the necessity of confining the same within a container.

' Another object is the provision of a briquette which is low in cost of manufacture, does not require expensive apparatus to produce the finished product, which is adaptable for any given fuel requirement, and generally superior to briquettes now in general use so far as the inventor is aware.

With the above and other objects in View, the invention consists in the novel and useful combination of ingredients and method of manufacture, all as disclosed generally in the statement of the invention hereinafter set forth, and more specifically pointed out in the claims.

One important feature of the invention resides in the fact that the fuel briquette of this invention does not require molding under pressure in order to produce a hard briquette. As a matter of fact, actual tests have shown that the briquette of this invention will withstand greater crushing stress than the ordinarily molded briquette. It is, of course, possible to obtain the charcoal of the riquette from various basic materials. For this purpose, any cellulose or carbonaceous material may be used, such as coal, petroleum coke, brush, vegetables, and like materials. Assuming that a material of this character is used, said material earnt i I is placed within a suitable crushing or grinding machine, sometimes termed in the industry as a hogger so that said material is chopped into fine pieces.

After the chopping, the material is placed in an air-tight container and subjected to various heats, although I have found 700 Fahrenheit satisfactory, which heat is maintainedfor a period of 1 to 2 hours. The gases are directed from the container and trapped so that by-products may be formed, such as wood alcohol, tannic acids, and various other wood derivatives. After the formation of the charcoal in the manner aforesaid, the charcoal is ground to. a selected mesh. In the present instance, we will assume a mesh of 100, which in common parlance means that the particles will pass through a screen having holes to the square inch. In the manner aforesaid, I have produced ground charcoal which will be used as the base material in the formation of the briquette.

I next employ an agitator or a mixer of some type, into which agitator or mixer I place the charcoal together with a binding substance, such as beet, cane sugar or wood syrup which has been thinned with water.

In addition to the foregoing, I add sand to the mix. The addition of the sand is one of the important features of the invention.

As an example, I may state that the weight of the binder and sand will vary under given conditions, but if a slow burning briquette is desired, the relative proportions by weight are: charcoal; sand;

and A; binding material.

ments just After placing the elementioned in the agitator or mixer,

the said ingredients are thoroughly mixed and the binder is sufficiently thinned to the end that every particle of the charcoal and sand is contacted. After the various ingredients aforesaid have been thoroughly mixed together, the said ingredients now thoroughly intermixed are poured into molds having any shape desired. The

molds are then placed in an evaporating oven ployed, for

a period of approximately 2 hours.

After the baking is completed, the briquettes are kept air-tight either by an air-tight mold or covering with sand until the briquettes are thoroughly cold.

I have found that the sugar content of the binding material becomes very hard carbon and that the sand gives an additional strength to the briquette.

The sand tends to fuse with the result that the briquette will stand rough handling and not subject to ready breakage. Furthermore, in actual use, the sand does not detract from the heat value of the burning briquette, as the hot sand during the burning throws off radiant rays and aids in the control of even combustion of the carbon content of the briquette.

Voids are, of course, formed in the briquette after its manufacture in accordance with the method aforesaid. These voids enable me to thoroughly impregnate the briquette after itis cool with an inflammable fluid without detracting from the hardness and strength of the briquette. For this purpose, I may use coal oil and paraiiin wax, rosin, and the like. Preferably I impregnate the briquette with hot oil and paraffin wax so that upon cooling, the paraffin wax will hold the coal oil within the briquette. I have found in actual practice that hot parafiin will penetrate the briquette within ten to fifteen minutes of time, and has no deleterious effect upon the binder mate-rial.

While to begin with, the binder material was soluble in water, yet after the formation of the briquette, the briquette is anhydrous for the reason that the binding material becomes a hard carbon. In place of the coal oil and paraflm wax just mentioned, I may use Wood alcohol treated with rosins and soap stock. Obviously, the purpose of the impregnation is to allow a ready igniting of the briquette as the inflammable fluid will generate an intense heat suficient to ignite the carbon substance.

If I desire the briquette to give off an odor, in place of impregnating the said briquette with an oil, such as coal oil and paraffin, I impregnate the briquette with a powder carried in solution. The solution may be water or other liquid. It is obvious that when the briquette is impregnated with a coal oil and paraflin. that a smoke will be given off by the briquette until the paraffin and coal oil are completely burned. However, if in place of coal oil and paraffin I utilize wood alcohol treated with rosins and soap stock as the impregnating substance, the briquette will burn without smoke.

The rapidity with which the briquette is burned is in a measure regulated by varying the solid materal.

t is obvious that various changes and modifications and variations may be made in proportions of the various ingredients used in the forming of the briquette, all within the scope of the invention as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The method of forming a slow burning hard fuel briquette that withstands great crushing stress adapted for use as an orchard heater, which consists in mixing approximately one-half charcoal, one-fourth sand, and one-fourth a sugar syrup binder, agitating the mix until every particle of the charcoal and sand is coated by the sugar syrup binder, pouring the mixed ingredients into a mold to form a briquette without applying pressure, evaporating the moisture content from said briquette in the mold, subjecting the briquette to a heat of approximately 700 Fahrenheit for a period of about two hours to form an anhydrous porous mass, followed by allowing said briquette to cool under air-tight conditions.

2. The method of forming a slow burning hard fuel briquette that withstands great crushing stress adapted for use as an orchard heater, which consists in mixing approximately one-half charcoal, one-fourth sand, and one-fourth a sugar syrup binder, agitating the mix until every particle of the charcoal and sand is coated by the sugar syrup binder, pouring the mixed ingredients into a mold to form a briquette without applying pressure, evaporating the moisture content from said briquette in the mold, subjecting the briquette to a heat of approximately 700 Fahrenheit for a period of about two hours to form an anhydrous porous mass, followed by allowing said briquette to cool under air-tight conditions, and thereafter impregnating said briquette with a burnable fuel.

CHARLES BURNET WOOD. 

